Among the several handheld devices that exist for remotely controlling electronic equipment, the free-space multi-dimensional absolute pointer stands to bring unprecedented ease of use by unifying control of nearly all devices under one simple operational paradigm that includes simple and intuitive actions such as pointing, twisting, and zooming. The underlying technology for the multi-dimensional absolute pointing device is a vision-based tracking system described in co-pending applications U.S. Ser. Nos. 11/187,387, 11/187,405, and 11/187,435, hereafter referred to as ‘387’, ‘405’, and ‘435’, respectively. In the same way that the mouse and the graphical user interface brought unprecedented simplicity and user-friendliness to the PC platform in the early 1970s, with its “point-and-click” paradigm, the world of the digital living room is now seeing a rapid convergence of electronic equipment and feature sets that are overwhelming the control capabilities of traditional interfaces, such as universal IR remote controls. This is becoming ever more evident with several key consumer trends: 1) strong sales of large screen digital TVs, 2) strong demand for digital video recording (DVR) functionality (e.g., TiVo) and intelligent and interactive TV viewing, 3) pervasiveness of the internet in all aspects of human life (e.g., search, travel, purchase/sales, banking, etc.), 4) nearly complete adoption of digital cameras and camcorders, and 5) increased demand for gaming for recreational purposes (e.g., on-line games, casual games, multi-player games, etc.). As these trends converge in the living room, the need arises for a simple device and user paradigm to manage and navigate this flood of content from a sofa or chair (the so-called “ten-foot interface”). The free-space absolute pointer, henceforth referred to as the WavIt, provides such a tool by combining simple 3D pointing with a graphical user interface.
In addition to the 10-foot interface living room functions such as TV navigation and video gaming, there are many other compelling applications of the same basic technology. Conference room situations in which a presenter can remotely point to, control, and interact with a displayed presentation is one such example. Highlighting areas of a slide, drawing on the screen, moving and manipulating objects, and switching between documents are examples of the types of functions that can be performed using a direct, absolute pointing device. Other examples of applications include target (fixed or moving) shooting toys and games, remote control of moving objects (e.g., toy vehicles and planes), and precise measurement and sensing applications. In short, any application in which accurate, short range pointing and/or tracking is important is a potential candidate for the basic technology described here.
When used as an input device, the WavIt is an absolute pointer, i.e., the cursor or screen indicator always appears at the intersection of the straight line between the device face and the screen, much like a laser pointer. It works on all typical display types (e.g., CRT, DLP, RPTV, LCD, plasma) and requires only an initial simple calibration step. The WavIt also tracks other degrees of freedom, such as the user's wrist angle in absolute space, and the user's absolute distance from the screen. Some versions also track the user's location in the room. All this takes place in real time, and multiple users can be using devices at the same time, which is of particular interest for multi-player gaming and presentation environments.